“You are the Brute Squad”

Last Saturday, Club members did different things. A contingent of Marauders went down to Oregon and competed, some watched the UFC, some the NFL playoffs, others went out for a few drinks. Not me though, I am a dad and I wouldn’t be a good dad if it didn’t make sure my kids received a proper education. Flash cards? Puzzle books? Dora? Nope, ESPN’s marathon coverage of the 2011 World’s Strongest Man Contest.

You see Fox and Lulu could work on counting and the alphabet in the morning, but right than they needed to see the rematch. Last year, Zydrunas Savickas of Lithuania and Brian Shaw of the the USA put on an amazing show. They tied as to total points but Zydrunas captured his second title by beating Brian on tiebreakers. Tiebreakers! Could Zydrunas win his 3rd straight title? Could Shaw bring the title back to America in America? This was going to be epic. Enough talk!

Event 1 Steel Frame Carry

It’s farmer’s walk 30 meters …with 825 lbs. You think you ripped your hands, these guys were leaving chunks of skin all over the course. Brian and Zydrunas dropped on their return trips and took 4th and 5th respectively. The surprise was first time competitor Mike Jenkins of USA taking 1st place. Jenkins had been putting together a solid year with a 2nd place at the Arnold Classic, could he keep it up.

Event 2 Giant Tire Walk

Another simple event, yoke walk two giant tires weighing 450kg 25 meters. Brian placed higher Zydrunas in another event, finishing 2nd and 5th. But neither of the favorites was in 1st place. No it was the WSM rookie Mike Jenkins, the former college and professional football player from Maryland, who won another event. Would the rematch be spoiled by a 370 lb Cinderella?

Event 3 Truck Pull

Pull a truck weighing 10,000kg 30 meters slightly uphill, don’t worry, you get a rope to pull on to help you. Darkhorse Mike Jenkins fell back to earth, taking 7th. The big winner was Brian Shaw, the giant from Colorado, who in taking 2nd opend a 5 point lead on the Zydrunas. Brian Shaw is 6’8″, 440 lbs. The man if he was born in ancient times would be on battlefield swinging a warhammer making the other army cower. One more event like this and this thing is over and Disney time for the kids.

Event 4 Deadlift

Hold Mulan for a second. With the rain starting to rain down on the competitors, the event had come to one of defending champion Savickas best events, the deadlift. The champion has set records in deadlifts of all shapes and sizes and does so again, deadlifting 440kg for a WSM record to take 1st place in the event while jumping up to 2nd overall behind Brian Shaw. The feel good story of Mike Jenkins hurt his back on his pull and had to pull out hurting America’s chance of having 2 on the podium.

Event 5 Log Press

75 seconds to get a log weighing 155kg overhead. This is Zydrunas’ best event and going into the final heat with Brian Shaw need to get 8 reps to win the event. Savickas destroys the event, he is barely push pressing the reps. Zydrunas threw up his 8 rep and the win…wait he’s still going. What is he doing? He puts up a ninth rep. Brian struggles and gets his 5th and final rep. Zydrunas is going again! Someone tell him he doesn’t have to do anymore! Ten reps! Amazing. With another 1st place Zydrunas pulls into a tie with Brian Shaw with one event left. But what of those last two reps he did? Was it mental terrorism against the American, was the adrenaline pumping, will that affect the champ?

Event 6 Atlas Stones

Here is it. The final Strongman event, the Kingmaker, the Atlas Stones. Will Brian Shaw erase his loss on tiebreakers to Zydrunas from last year or loss another heart breaker? Will Zydrunas win his 3rd straight championship or will it be his 4th runners up finish. They are neck and neck, the taller Brian is pulling ahead slowly and WAIT a slip by Zydrunas on the 4th stone. Brian Shaw puts the 5th stone on the platform and brings the Championship back to America. Another nailbiting finish, what will happen next year? Until than here is the entire British broadcast of the Finals to watch these great moments.

Posted by Nickay

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One Response to ““You are the Brute Squad””

“Out of every hundred men you send us, ten shouldn’t be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”